Tinted Glass
by EriLenx07
Summary: Wizards only like to see things their way and their way alone; in order for them to begin to truly open their eyes, one must first break their tinted glass lens. In which fourteen year old Sawada Tsunayoshi discovers he is a wizard and is sent to the finest wizarding school in Europe - Hogwarts.
1. Chapter 1

(i)

To say that Sawada Tsunayoshi's life is eventful would be the equivalent of speaking the mother of all understatements.

In fact, some might even call it magical.

Just not… _magical_.

Or at least, it wasn't _supposed_ to be.

Tsuna didn't think that wizards and witches were a thing. Too ridiculous, fantastical.

In hindsight, that's kind of stupid, he's _Vongola_ for kami's sake.

Weird is literally in his blood. He's the heir to a mafia family that's practically built on _fiery superpowers_. And that's not even the entire gist of it all.

Sometimes - okay, maybe a bit more than just _sometimes_ \- Tsuna wonders if his life is some kind of an elaborate joke. If none of this is actually real and that he's really a normal human being and that there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this beyond, yet again, _superpowers._

Tsuna's Hyper Intuition - yet another impossible ability - says otherwise.

 _Damn._

The point is, Tsuna's life isn't supposed to be able to get any weirder than this. There's a _limit_ , damnit!

A now pathetically broken limit, but a limit nonetheless.

It all started with Sawada Nana. Tsuna always knew his mom was a bit off - too calm, as though she was entirely used to all the crazy. As though it was perfectly normal for a _baby_ to walk into their house claiming to be a home tutor of all things for free!

But to be perfectly honest, those were just the more recent signs that something was up with his mom.

The older ones were probably a bit more concerning.

Like all the times she had him help her make "potions, Tsu-kun! They're very fun and so very important" or whispered a few strange words in a dialect of Japanese that he only now recognized after his lessons with Reborn.

(The things that came with those words were another story entirely.)

Her garden gave him the creeps; he swears that he once saw one of those plants waving at him.

 _Waving_.

Not a wind-type of wave, but the actual, human kind that didn't stop until he had run back to the house and peered at it from the window.

Then it started waving again.

 _Again._

Suffice to say, Tsuna takes extra special care to avoid the garden and that particular window now, thank you very much.

In hindsight, he should have questioned it more.

His mother, however, had been certain that he hadn't needed to, at the time.

Well, that was at the time. Now?

Now things had gotten even stranger. He could swear that things started floating in the corner of his eye when he was nervous, only to come crashing down when he turned to look.

When doors slammed around him, they didn't _slam_. No, they crashed into their frames with all force of a slamming door without even a squeak of noise.

(Tsuna's kind of okay with that one, the sound of a slamming door always did manage to scare the crap out of him.)

There was even a time when Tsuna got up in the morning and looked in the mirror. Now, this seems like a perfectly normal situation, right?

Well, it would have been had the eyes staring back it him not been blue.

Not his natural brown nor the brilliant orange of his Sky Flames, but _blue_.

Tsuna had fainted at that one.

Eventually, after about a week of somewhat-successfully hiding these recent bouts of weirdness -

" _Wow Tsuna, that's one screwy lightbulb! It just blew up for no good reason at all!"_

" _Juudaime… I really don't think that that dish should be turning purple. We didn't even get any ingredients that_ could _turn it purple…?_ "

\- Tsuna decided to go to his mother.

Now, normally when something weird as all hell was going on he'd go straight to Reborn to demand an explanation.

However, Reborn was in Italy right now taking care of some unfinished business with his newly grown-up body and to be perfectly honest, Tsuna had a feeling that this didn't really qualify as Reborn-kind of weird.

…

Huh. Tsuna never thought he'd be thinking that about any kind of weird. Weird…

Anyways, it _did_ on the other hand, remind him of Mama's kind of weird. And so, he went.

* * *

Mama was chopping vegetables in the kitchen when Tsuna first approached her, humming cheerily to herself and offsetting Tsuna's more somber mood.

Tsuna wasn't really sure when he had stopped calling her _Kaa-san_ and switched to _Mama_. It was the Italian influence, he supposed, and it fit her, really. The word was warm and affectionate, endearing and somehow more intimate than the term _Kaa-san_.

Mama never complained, that was for sure. Tsuna was grateful for that - he was changing so much and yet she always took his changes in stride.

Tsuna knew that his eyes were no longer so innocent, that he was not the child his fourteen years of age led people to believe he was. He had seen too much, gone through too much.

And yet, Tsuna knew that no matter what happened, his mother's love for him would never change. She was like a rock, sturdy and constant and unyielding.

He _killed someone_ , evil though they may have been, and yet she had still been there to welcome him home with a hug and a kiss to his forehead.

That mattered.

Mama was the best mother anyone could ever ask for, which was why he was so reluctant to ask her for help with his grades or bullies, why he would never take any of her offers to do so. He already relied on her so much, too much. She worked while he was at school and made all his meals and supported him the best she could.

He could never ask for more than that.

But now… now was the exception.

"Um, hi Mama," Tsuna greeted awkwardly. He never did get the hang of asking for help - he didn't like bothering other people. Except in the case of Reborn, of course, but with him it was less asking and more exasperatedly demanding.

"Morning, Tsu-kun! You're up early," Mama noted teasingly. "Tell me, has my little Tsu-kun finally grown up enough to be up before noon on a vacation day?"

Tsuna huffed. "That has nothing to do with being grown up!" Being mature enough to be able to be a mafia heir in truth - soon to be _vigilante_ heir, actually, if he was going to do this whole Vongola thing then he was going to do it his way or not at all - did not equate to being mature enough to not sleep in.

Mama shook her head fondly. "Uh huh. Sure. I'm sure that your future girlfriend or boyfriend will be _very_ impressed with those sleeping habits of yours."

" _Mama!_ "

"It's okay, Tsuna - I won't tell them. That's _all_ on you. Hopefully, they'll be able to find it in their hearts to love you in spite of how late you'll be making them every morning."

"Mama, I'm _fourteen_!" Tsuna stressed. Ugh, mothers.

"Oh, good point," Mama agreed. "You still have plenty of time to choose between all the people that're smitten with you. I personally like Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto-kun quite a bit!"

Tsuna died a little inside.

"Oh, but there's also Hibari-kun! And Rokudo-kun and Chrome-chan… soo many choices!"

 _Why_ had all of his Guardians taken to visiting the house so often after the Arcobaleno fiasco? Even Mukuro and Hibari dropped by all the time for Mama's cooking!

 _Mukuro and Hibari._

"Hm, but then again… why choose only one? You could have them all and I'd have such a wonderfully large family…"

"Mama," Tsuna said pointedly. "You already have everyone in your family. I don't want a harem!"

"Ah, but there's just something about feeding your child's partners that makes it all the more satisfying…"

"How would you know that?! I've never had a 'partner'!" Tsuna protested.

Mama walked over to him and patted his fluffy hair patronizingly. "Of course you haven't, Tsu-kun."

Why, oh why was that sarcasm?

"I'm not here to talk about this kind of thing, you know," he said exasperatedly. Mama sighed.

"How mean, Tsu-kun… we barely ever get to talk like this and here you are, denying me of my fun…"

"I think you're being the mean one here," Tsuna pointed out wryly before turning serious. "Um, so, some weird things have been happening to me…"

"Oh!" Mama interrupted excitedly. "So _that's_ what this is about! My little boy really _is_ growing up! Don't worry Tsuna, this happens to everyone. Your body is just going through a few changes and -"

"What? _No!_ " Tsuna interrupts, horrified. "That's not it at all!"

"It's not?" she asks, disappointed. "Reborn-kun already gave you that talk, didn't he? That man, taking all my parenting moments from me…"

Tsuna didn't even bother to respond to that. "So. Weird things. Like, floating objects, food changing to colors that it's not supposed to be, exploding lightbulbs…?"

Mama's jaw dropped open and the room was silent for a beat.

Then, she squealed. "Oh, Tsuna, this is absolutely incredible! Your first bouts of accidental magic!"

Tsuna wondered if his hearing was okay. "My first bouts of accidental what now?"

"Accidental magic!" she repeated in delight. "Of course, you _are_ a bit old for that but better late than never! This is _so_ exciting!"

"What."

"And here I thought you were born non-magical, but looks like it really was just that thing that your father decided to do when you were younger holding you back…"

Tsuna was so confused. Was she talking about the seal that the Ninth had once put on his Flames? And… magic? What? Flames weren't magic, and that was the only special thing about him, right…?

Mama put a hand over her mouth in a startled realization. "Oh, right, you don't know any of this. There hadn't been much of a point in telling you about it before…"

Mama had been keeping secrets from him…? That thought did something unpleasant to his chest, but that was hypocritical. It wasn't like he kept her informed about all the crazy going on in his life either…

A grin lit up his mother's face and Tsuna found himself slightly afraid.

"You're a wizard, Tsuna!"

* * *

Tsuna's head hurt from all the new information.

Firstly, he is, apparently, a wizard. His mother is a witch.

Yes, that is a thing. Why is that a thing?!

To make things even worse, he was also supposed to have already discovered his 'magic' _years_ ago and have already gone onto magic school. His peers were already six years ahead of him in magic training!

"It's okay, Tsuna, I promise. This just means that you'll have to go to a wizarding school down in Europe; you'd only be three years behind there and I can catch you up on those just fine on my own," Mama explained, pausing thoughtfully. "Maybe with a bit of help from Reborn-kun."

"Reborn?" Tsuna asked, in spite of himself. There wasn't much in his life that Reborn didn't involve himself in.

The spritely woman nodded. "Mhm. If there's anything I've learned in all my years of teaching, then it's that a good assistant makes everything much easier!"

Reborn, an assistant? Ha, good one Mama.

"Years of teaching?" Tsuna repeated, deciding to focus on that instead of crushing his mother's fantasy.

"Mmm, yes, that _is_ what I do for a living, Tsu-kun! I teach the apothecary arts at the academy in the next town over. You know, growing herbs with magical properties, potions and salves and their applications - that kind of thing."

"But… I thought you were a florist!" he protested.

Mama giggled. "Flowers have lots of special properties, Tsuna. That wasn't a lie~"

"Oh," Tsuna said. There wasn't much else he _could_ say. "Does Tou-san know?"

Tsuna swore the temperature of the room dropped a few degrees at the mere mention of Sawada Iemitsu.

"Of course he does," Mama said, her smile straining at the edges. "There _is_ a Statute of Secrecy that says you can't tell non-magicals about magic, but it's more of a guideline than anything else here in Japan. I figured that marriage was a good enough reason to break it."

Oh. But parenthood wasn't?

Mama drew him into a warm, sweet hug, laying her head on his shoulder in comfort. "You have to understand, Tsuna, most children show signs of being magical before they turn eight. You didn't. I didn't want to tell you about a world you could never really be a part of - I didn't want to hurt you like that. I love you too much for that."

Tsuna looked down, ashamed that he had thought his mother's reasons to be for anything but his own good. "Sorry. I love you too, Mama."

"It's okay, I'd be upset if I were you too," she sighed. "About ten years ago your father told me that a gift from his side of the family was hurting you and that it had to be sealed away until further notice, for your safety."

Tsuna felt something wet on his shoulder. "He was right, kind of."

The body of a five year old wasn't meant to be handling Flames - it was too immature, too undeveloped. Lambo was a special case - his body was modified to be able to take the electrifying properties of Lightning Flames.

Tsuna didn't like thinking about that.

"But whatever it was, he did it _wrong_. I should have noticed that it was off, I shouldn't have trusted him. He sealed away your _magic_." There was something broken in her voice - self-loathing. "If he hadn't…"

"It wasn't your fault," he said and it wasn't. Who could fault her for trusting the person she loved? For accepting that something needed to be done for her child's safety?

"It is," Mama said with a note of finality, letting go of Tsuna. "When Reborn-kun comes home we'll discuss your tutelage and the like. For now, I'll start looking into suitable magic schools and you should go ahead and tell anyone that you think needs to know about this, okay?"

"I…" What could he say? How could he make this better? He was being thrown into a whole new world of crazy and here he was, unable to truly comfort his mother because he didn't know how to. "Okay."

Mama gave him another smile. "You aren't alone, Tsuna and it's important that you remember that. Rely on everyone you can rely on, because you can and that's what your family is here for."

Tsuna nodded again. There weren't any tears in his eye.

There weren't.

"And I suppose I'll have to have a few words with that no-good father of yours too…"

* * *

Tsuna sat across from Gokudera and Yamamoto. These two people are his best friends, the ones who have been with him through his every trial and tribulation, through thick and through thin.

It was only right that they would be the first to know.

"Is everything alright, Tsuna?" Yamamoto questioned, an easy, comforting smile on his face. "You look a bit nervous."

Tsuna loved Yamamoto's smile, especially when it was real. It was real a lot these days, not the plastic-thin quirk of his lips that Tsuna had witnessed so often in the days before their friendship had begun.

"Is something wrong?" Gokudera asked, concern etched into his rough voice. "Is someone bothering you? I'll kill them if they are, Juudaime. Just give me a name!"

"No, no, no one's bothering me!" Tsuna said quickly, raising his hands in fond exasperation. "No need to kill anyone, Gokudera-kun."

Gokudera's zeal for Tsuna's safety and general state of being was a bit disconcerting at first, but Tsuna had gotten used to it eventually. Tsuna understood it, in a way. He would do anything for his first friends too, he just didn't express it so… loudly.

"Then what is it?"

Tsuna took a deep breath. "So… you guys know how some weird things have been going on around me, right?"

Yamamoto tilted his head slightly in thought. "No stranger than usual!"

Gokudera glared at the taller boy. "He means things like when we got attacked by the water from the school fountain and the floating doll."

Tsuna shuddered at the mention of that last one. They had been picking up some things for Mama at a convenience store last week when one of the 'float-and-crashes' had occurred.

When this type of situation arose, whatever object happened to be floating behind Tsuna would only crash once Tsuna turned around to see it; his magic was oddly specific like that. So if Tsuna didn't turn around, then the object would continue floating, perfectly visible to anyone around him.

So when Yamamoto and Gokudera had been staring at him in wide-eyed shock, Tsuna had thought that he had grown another head or something before his intuition had kindly informed him that there was something behind him.

They hightailed it out of there the moment the thing fell to the floor. Tsuna had been very, very confused afterwards - he had thought that his life was more like an action movie, not a horror film! Since when did things switch genres so easily?!

And yes, Tsuna did like to think of his life in terms of fiction - thinking of it in more realistic terms brought _way_ too many disturbing questions to the forefront of his mind. No thank you.

"Um yeah, like those," Tsuna agreed. "I found out what the cause of it all is."

Gokudera immediately perked up. "It's a UMA, isn't it?"

Tsuna sweat-dropped. Gokudera and his occult stuff…

"Wow!" Yamamoto exclaimed. "I didn't actually think that those were real. Looks like you were right all along, eh Gokudera?"

The Italian scoffed in response. " _Of course_ I was right, I'm _always_ right."

"Actually, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna interrupted with a snicker at their antics, "- you're wrong this time."

Tsuna felt a bit guilty at the way that Gokudera deflated at his words. "Oh…"

"Hmmm," Yamamoto hummed, scratching his chin. "Oh, I get it! It's magic!"

Tsuna's eyes widened. "H-how did you know?"

"It's like that stuff we do with our weapons!" Yamamoto explained with a grin. "It's all a part of the mafia game, right?"

Gokudera elbowed him in the ribs. "Idiot! _Flames_ aren't 'magic', they're a scientifically proven capability of the human body. Juudaime's talking about something else, right?"

Tsuna nodded. "Yeah… I'm actually a wizard?"

"Oh," Gokudera said, as if this didn't surprise him at all. "So I _am_ right. Wizards are classified as UMAs." Green eyes widened in horror as Gokudera's brain caught up to his mouth. "Not that you're a UMA! I just mean - um…"

Yamamoto laughed. "Smooth, Gokudera, smooth."

"Sh-shut up!"

"No, it's fine," Tsuna reassured his friend, shocked. "I just… why aren't you guys reacting? I mean…"

"It's 'cause you're you," Yamamoto explains, stepping over to wrap an arm around Tsuna's shoulders. "Nothing about you can really surprise us at this point, and who cares if you're different? We're your friends, we're supposed to support you anyways."

Gokudera moved to Tsuna's other side, not to be outdone by Yamamoto. "The idiot's right, for once. There's always been something special about you. As your right hand man, I'm not going to let anything change the way I think about you."

It was as if a weight inside of Tsuna's heart had been lifted at his friends' words. While he knew on a basic level that Yamamoto and Gokudera would believe him no matter what, no matter how little he explained at first, seeing it was something else.

Tsuna was, to be honest, terrified that someday, something would happen that would take away his friends. Maybe something he did would finally drive them away. Maybe they would tire of his weakness.

Who knows?

Telling them about something as fantastical as his recent discovery of wizardry certainly seemed like something that could drive them away. For being a liar, coming to ridiculous conclusions or for wanting to be more special than he already was - for being an attention whore.

And yet… here they were, accepting it.

Tsuna's eyes stung for the second time that day.

"So why don't you tell us a bit more about the situation?" Yamamoto coaxed. Gokudera nodded. "We can't help you if you don't tell us _how_ we can help you."

Tsuna would forever deny his voice breaking as he repeated what his mother had told him earlier. When he finished, Gokudera looked alarmed.

"Ohh, so we're going to a magic school in Europe!" the baseball player cheered. "Awesome!"

Tsuna bit his lip. Gokudera, on the other hand, caught on to the issue much more quickly. "We can't go with you, can we?" the bomber said quietly.

Tsuna nodded.

"What?" Yamamoto asked blankly, shaking his head. "No. You can't just go off to another _country_ alone!"

"Yamamoto-kun…"

"Juudaime, have you _seen_ your luck?" Gokudera asks incredulously. "What if something happens to you? What if you get hurt and we can't be there to help you? It's _magic school_. That just screams dangerous!"

"That," Yamamoto says, "- and we don't want you to be alone. I know you _can_ make friends anywhere you want, but I don't know if you _will_."

They have _very_ valid points. But Yamamoto is wrong.

Tsuna has never been able to make friends on his own. The ones he has now, his Family, the Varia, Dino-san, the Shimon…? He forged these bonds through circumstance.

He has spent _years_ of his life alone. He has forgotten how to be alone, and now it seems that he must learn again.

That terrifies Tsuna.

"I'll be okay," Tsuna says reassuringly. He didn't really want to, but Mama said that he had to go to learn to realize his full potential.

If he went, then he could learn even better ways to protect the people he needed to protect - like Kyoko and Haru; like Lambo, I-pin and Fuuta.

He couldn't pass that kind of chance up, he _couldn't_.

"I'll write everyday," Tsuna says and Yamamoto smiles at him. It isn't real.

Gokudera looks down and Tsuna buries his face in his hands.

"It'll be okay," Tsuna whispers under his breath. He doesn't believe it.

* * *

Gokudera and Yamamoto don't leave him alone for the rest of the day, then slept over.

Tsuna was very happy with that.

It is only on the next day that Tsuna can continue his mission. Gokudera is off resupplying his bomb collection - " _It never hurts to be prepared"_ \- and Yamamoto has a last minute practice before tomorrow's baseball game.

He found himself calling up Onii-chan, asking if he'd like to take Lambo, Fuuta and I-pin to the park with him. The children had spent the previous day with Kyoko, Haru and Hana and so Tsuna explained that he wished to spend some time with them himself, but wanted someone else to be there as well. Just in case.

 _Brotherly bonding time to the extreme!_ Tsuna wished that it was just that.

Half an hour later, Tsuna was sitting with Ryohei on a park bench, watching the children run around and play.

What a peaceful sight… for just how long was he going to be able to enjoy it?

" _Tsuna!_ "

Tsuna jumped. "Oh! I - um… what is it?"

Ryohei chuckled, softer than his usual boisterous laughter. "You weren't paying any attention. I asked you if there was something extremely bothering you."

Sans perhaps his mother, Tsuna has never met a person kinder than Sasagawa Ryohei - not even Kyoko could compare to the sheer warmth Onii-chan radiated.

In spite of how loud the older boy could be, Tsuna always felt safe in his presence. The Sun was bright, brilliant and never failed to show Tsuna just how much he cared, how much he wanted to help and that Tsuna could always rely on him.

He was understanding, much more so than he let on. And even if he didn't get what was wrong at first, he always, always _tried_.

No one had ever really tried for Tsuna before - not before Gokudera, at least. This was, perhaps, the trait that Tsuna valued most in people: the ability and desire to always try to understand and make someone happy.

It really does go without saying that Onii-chan is one of the most precious people in his life; a true older brother in a way that he felt only Dino could possibly match, if he was around more, and that was still a bit of a maybe.

"I guess you could say that," Tsuna answered. "It's still a bit hard to talk about."

Ryohei's eyes turned serious, but a smile remained on his face, soothing Tsuna. "I won't rush you; that'll just make it harder, right? That's why you called me, isn't it?"

Neither of those questions were actually questions.

"Yeah," Tsuna admitted. "But I also wanted to spend time with you and the kids."

"I know," the other boy said. "Take your time, okay? Whatever makes you as extremely comfortable as possible."

"I think it would be best if I just got it out," Tsuna decides, taking a deep breath. "I'm a wizard."

Ryohei's eyes widen. "Really? Like, the kind in the movies? With all the magic and stuff?"

Tsuna nods. "Kinda?"

Ryohei grins, pumping a fist into the air and then taking a moment to ruffle Tsuna's hair. "Extremely amazing, Tsuna!"

Tsuna wasn't really sure what he had expected. Shock? Denial? Certainly not plain old acceptance, regardless of previous experience.

He really did need to get used to the fact that people care about him, it's been _two years_.

"Thank you," Tsuna says, _for everything. For caring and for fighting for us, for healing us and just for being everyone's Onii-chan._

Ryohei laughs, loudly this time. "You don't have anything to thank me for!"

Tsuna shakes his head. "I do." _I always do_.

"Nope," Ryohei denies adamantly. _So stubborn_ , Tsuna thinks fondly.

"I really, really do," Tsuna insists. "Anyways… there's something else."

"Yeah?"

"I have to leave for magic school in Europe in a few months."

There. He said it. Tsuna held his breath as he awaited a response.

"... you're leaving us, Tsuna-nii?"

Tsuna froze. He looks up, horrified, and meets the already-tearful emerald eyes of his Lightning. I-pin stands next to him, a ball falling from her grasp. Fuuta is silent at their side.

"I…"

"Only for a bit," Ryohei interrupts, his voice soft and cheerful. Like he isn't breaking the news to children that relied upon Tsuna in the exact way that Tsuna didn't want to.

Tsuna didn't know how he wanted to tell them. But, like this, on accident? He didn't want to do that.

"And he isn't leaving for an extremely long time either," the Sun continues and Tsuna is reminded that Ryohei is actually the best with children out of everyone he knows, sans, yet again, Mama. "Nothing to worry about at all!"

"But…" I-pin trails off, breaking Tsuna's heart again. "Why?"

The girl's Japanese still isn't the best, but she got her message across very well.

"Yeah," Lambo adds, the angry expression on his face contrasting greatly with the fear in his eyes. "You're not allowed to leave us!"

It is then that Tsuna remembers that Lambo was essentially abandoned and sent to die by his own family. By going off to Europe without the child, he was doing the same thing - but worse.

Tsuna's heart broke a third time.

"I-I have to," he says. "I'll…" He'll what? Write? Letters weren't what you did to make a child feel like you didn't abandon them.

"It's okay," Fuuta speaks up. "If Tsuna-nii says he has to go, then he has to go. He wouldn't leave us without a reason."

The words are firm and yet sad, and Tsuna knows that Fuuta hasn't had the best experiences in his life either. His heart must be irreversibly shattered at this point.

"I'll visit on the weekends," Tsuna decides, firm in his decision. "No matter what they say."

There. That'll be good - and it'll make Yamamoto and Gokudera happier too! He'll do that, no matter what it takes, no matter what he has to do to do so.

"...really?"

"Really."

Ryohei grins. "Then it's all settled. Now come on, we have some extreme tag to be playing!"

Tsuna nods with a smile and gets up. "I call not it!"

* * *

Hibari is next on the list.

Tsuna finds him on the roof of Namimori Middle, despite the fact that Hibari does not go there anymore - he goes to Namimori High - and is careful not to be too loud.

He came to deliver news, not get bitten to death.

"Hello, Hibari-san," Tsuna greets, no longer quite as nervous around the other teenager as he used to be.

"Sawada," Hibari says in return, not bothering to get up from his spot leaning against the fence. "Why are you here?"

Blunt as always… Hibari really is something else. Powerful, elegant, prideful. Tsuna wonders what exactly it is that he did to deserve to be able to fight alongside such a person.

"I have something to tell you," Tsuna replies. "Um, it's kind of weird though, I guess?"

Hibari snorts. "What isn't strange when it comes to you, little animal?"

Tsuna laughs, in spite of himself. "Good point."

If there's one thing that Tsuna's learned about Hibari over the years, however, it is that he is quite possibly the most loyal person that Tsuna had ever met, sans Gokudera and Yamamoto.

The moment someone proves their worth to Hibari, they are in a way, _his_. He will protect them, fight for them, support them - just like the way he treats Namimori itself.

It took Tsuna a while to realize this, sure, but as Hibari fought with them and went through each and every trial - the Varia, the future and more - alongside them, his motivations became more and more glaringly obvious.

Hibari never did try to hide anything, after all.

And that, Tsuna had decided, is why he could always trust Hibari. Hibari allowed himself to be transparent, for how could someone so free, _like a natural disaster_ , cloud himself in mystery?

It just wasn't in his nature.

"Get on with it, I was just about to take my nap."

Hibari and his naps, Tsuna swears. Only with this person does the word 'nap' coincide with 'certain death' for anyone in his vicinity.

"I'm a wizard and I'm going to Europe to study magic in a few months."

For some reason, every time Tsuna said it he felt lighter and lighter, as though his new burden was distributing itself amongst the people who so much as heard the words.

Tsuna didn't know how to feel about that.

"Magic," Hibari says, tasting the word. "I see."

"You see?" Tsuna questions, slightly confused. He's not surprised at all!

"I know everything that goes on in this place," the Cloud says as though it explains everything.

(It does.)

"Even the supernatural?"

"Even the supernatural."

"Oh," Tsuna says. "I guess that's not very surprising… what's with that smirk."

The smirk widens.

" _Hibari_."

"I'm curious to see how long it'll take you to master your first spell, Sawada. Magic duels are _very_ entertaining."

" _What."_

"Now leave, I have better things to be doing than conversing with you," Hibari dismisses.

Tsuna is questioning life.

" _Hibari!_ "

"Leave, little animal, before I bite you to death."

"...you'd better explain everything later," Tsuna grumbles.

"That wasn't the sound of you trying to tell me what to do, was it, Sawada?"

Tsuna squeaks. " _Leaving!_ "

Tsuna turned on his heel, speeding off towards the staircase. He did not just hear Hibari laughing at him. At all. Nope.

Well… that's five down, two more to go…

* * *

 **A/N**

 **You see, this is what happens when one of my random musings makes Natripper happy. Even though I have two popular stories that I should be writing for.**

 **And that Hibari thing just came out of absolutely nowhere…**

 **Anyhow, please tell me what you guys thought of this fic! The next chapter'll have Mukuro and Chrome (Mukuro's my actual fav character ofc he gets a big role in literally every KHR fic I write), of whom I have** _ **plans**_ **for, and Reborn.**

 **Maybe Hogwarts too. We'll see.**

 **Ciao!**


	2. Chapter 2

(ii)

Tsuna had been under the impression that he had the "are you freaking kidding me" look trademarked by now.

He was wrong.

It was _all_ Mukuro's.

After that rather disturbing meeting with Hibari, Tsuna had decided to head down to Kokuyo Land and inform the last members of his Guardian set as to what exactly was going on.

Sky Flames, as it turns out, are ridiculous things. _Far_ more ridiculous than any magic could ever be. Especially when it came to the true nature of their "harmony" aspect.

 _Harmony_ is the ability to use all of the elements in a cohesive manner. It is also the ability to form bonds between users of different elements, increasing their power and reducing any stress brought on by using Flames.

Of course, every Sky user has a limit to how many of these bonds they can form. Tsuna has seven available bonds, Dino has about a billion - no one actually knows _what_ exactly his limit is.

It just works for everyone in his Family, somehow.

Tsuna doesn't really want to get into the Flame logistics necessary to question it, honestly. His brain was not fit for such complicated-ness.

Anyways, as Reborn had explained to him after the Arcobaleno trials, he was now a fully-realized Sky. Unlike before, when the seal upon his Flames had restricted his very being, Tsuna now had full access to his abilities.

This was, apparently, a result of two things - Dying Will bullets and Guardian bonds.

Any Sky of whom is unaware of his or her capabilities is also one that is unable to control the innate desire to form bonds, thereby attracting anyone with the ability to produce Flames. Any Sky whose Flames are sealed is incapable of forming bonds with anyone but the people that naturally suit his Flames best.

When those two things are combined, there is only one possible result.

 _Bullying_.

People could come to him, be attracted by his presence, but they would then be pushed away by some sort of unseen force. Agitated by this rejection, they follow what can only be described as the instinctual course of action - lash out against the source.

It's a good thing that Sky Flames are so rare, Tsuna thinks. Truthfully, they frighten him.

After all, all it took to ruin his childhood and make his adolescence a living hell of training was to seal his away. Tsuna wishes that he could stop resenting his father and Nono for it, but he's not that good of a person.

The Dying Will bullets helped destroy the physical aspects of the seal, but what drew out his Flames was meeting and befriending the people that suited him best.

Forming bonds, thankfully, was a two way thing - both parties had to desire to be with and accept each other. It was impossible to force one between two Flame users.

At first Tsuna had thought that his bonds were something artificial, unnatural, because _why would these people want me in any way?!_ , but Reborn had been quick to shut that one down.

" _Dame-Tsuna,"_ Reborn had said in his last days of infantry, "- _there is no bond without consent. No matter how those idiots of yours may have acted, they wanted you as much as you wanted them_."

Tsuna had tried to argue that he hadn't actually wanted to be connected to Hibari or Mukuro in any way, shape or form but then he realized that he just wanted _someone_ and shut up.

Of course, he still didn't know everything about this stuff - he was still learning.

Regardless, that didn't change the facts - he has Guardians, and as such, he has to make sure they all know about the more drastic changes to his life.

And so, Tsuna found himself at Kokuyo Land this fine Monday morning (which is just asking for trouble - Monday's are _cursed_ ), having a conversation that could possibly be worse than the one with Hibari (somehow) if not for the presence of his one and only sane Guardian, Chrome.

"Let me get this straight." Tsuna doesn't quite think he's ever seen this particular expression on Mukuro's face before. Sadistic pleasure? Sure. Sheer, ridiculous arrogance? On a daily basis. _Kufufufu, I have a new plot to drive Tsunayoshi absolutely insane_ \- that's a favorite of his.

This? Tsuna wasn't sure as to what to make of this. It was… strange, blank, as though the universe has finally lost its mind and Mukuro is the only sane one.

… now there's a thought he'd never imagined having.

"You are a wizard."

Tsuna nodded.

"You are going to wizarding Europe to attend a school to learn to control your magic."

Nod.

It was as though the room's entire atmosphere changed in the span of a second. " _No_ ," Mukuro snapped. "No, you will not."

"Um, what?"

"Mukuro-sama," Chrome said, concerned, touching her fellow Mist's arm. Tsuna wasn't sure if he should be annoyed that Mukuro thought that he could control Tsuna's actions, or concerned because yeah, there's probably a good reason for it - Tsuna had expected more of a _fine, just try not to die_ kind of reaction.

"You will not be going to Europe," Mukuro repeated, more firmly this time. Tsuna doesn't think he's ever seen him so serious. "Tell me, do you really want to surround yourself with a society of blind, racist fools?"

Wait. What?

"To be looked down upon for your heritage, to separate yourself from those you hold dear, to poison your own mind?" he went on, eyes growing colder and colder with each word. The expression almost reminded Tsuna of when they first met.

"You don't know that," Tsuna countered, pausing. "Wait, how do you know that?"

Mukuro snorted. "I've lived six lives, Tsunayoshi. Do you really think that I wouldn't know?"

Oh. Right. Tsuna nearly forgot about that - at first he hadn't really believed in the concept, but then he started to consider all the other things in his life: Flames, time travel, the mafia. Reincarnation wasn't _that_ far fetched _._

Chrome shuffled slightly, clarifying, "his previous life."

"Oh," Tsuna said, understanding. That… probably wasn't too long ago. Maybe Mukuro did know what he was talking about. "You were a wizard."

"Unfortunately," Mukuro confirmed, disgust coloring his smooth voice. "Get another tutor and learn here. It isn't worth it."

Tsuna likened the tone of his voice, the look in his eyes, to the way Mukuro was when he spoke of the mafia, if a bit calmer and absent of the usual vehement vengefulness. It was odd, empty in a way that Tsuna had never thought that he'd hear or see from any of his loved ones.

Tsuna didn't like it one bit. But, was he really within his rights to press?

Mukuro was the type of person to give information on a need-to-know basis - he was very private, so he certainly didn't like sharing anything that he didn't specifically need to share. To him, he was probably already giving Tsuna everything he needed to know - perhaps more than that, even.

Chrome obviously knew more, but that was a given. The two shared an incredibly intimate bond, even after the fiasco of the Arcobaleno Trials.

 _Fun times_ , Tsuna thought dryly. His Mists (okay, he has got to stop with these possessives, apparently this is normal but he's caught himself using them with all of his Guardians at least once each and he really, really doesn't like it) are about as intimacy-starved as he was, probably more so. So they really, really didn't handle changes in whatever relationships they had well, at all.

Which is why Mukuro reacted to the idea of Chrome not needing his illusions anymore by cutting her off immediately - better to save himself the pain then and avoid dealing with it later than have to face the pain when Chrome "inevitably" left him due to lack of need once she could form her own organs.

Which lead to Chrome, of course, shutting down before finally pulling herself together - it was hard to suddenly be without someone you relied on so much so suddenly, especially when you needed them most.

Tsuna can understand that. He doesn't think he'd handle being without Gokudera and

Yamamoto very long either. Actually, he doesn't think he can handle being without all of them in general - this whole thing will definitely be a trial on his sanity. He's far too used to having someone to rely on, multiple someones. Being alone will be… bad. Scary.

But then again, he couldn't let himself be too reliant. That wouldn't be fair to the others. He needed the independence, no matter how much he didn't exactly want it.

That's the real reason why he was going along with all of this, after all.

"Boss?" Chrome's voice cut into Tsuna's thoughts, pulling him back from the subspace of his thoughts and into reality. Huh, illusionists pulling someone back into reality… how ironic. Tsuna had to bite back a snicker at that thought. "You looked a bit… lost there."

Tsuna rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Ah, sorry about that. There's a lot on my mind."

Mukuro snorted. "Or perhaps the issue is that there isn't enough in that head of yours, if you're seriously considering going to obtain a magical education from a place like that without any significant research."

Oh, ouch. "Hey," Tsuna protested weakly. "Mama said that it would be a good idea."

Okay, yeah, that sounds like a weak defense. Complacent and dependent, exactly what he didn't want to be.

"While I mean no offense to your mother," the elder boy countered sharply, "- the vast majority of the world's magical population is notorious for their lack of common sense."

Chrome nodded to herself as though she had just had the epiphany of a lifetime, her eye widening in a sort of teasing mockery. "I see… that makes sense, I think."

Mukuro's eye twitched. "And just _what_ is _that_ supposed to mean, Nagi?"

"I think that should be up to your interpretation, Mukuro-sama," the younger girl countered impishly.

Tsuna nodded along, a mirthful smile playing on his lips at Chrome's obviously successful attempt to brighten the mood. "You _were_ a part of that population once too, after all."

Mukuro levelled them both with a glare that probably would've had their former selves cowering back in fear. Now, though, they only erupted into laughter. Really, it amazed Tsuna about how light and easy a discussion between good friends could be - kami, he was going to miss moments like these.

It was strange, the way that he could genuinely say that they were all close friends now - but not too surprising. The entire Kokuyo gang had this initially concerning habit of dropping by for dinner all the time, bless and curse Mama's cooking, and Mukuro took plenty of pleasure out of screwing with Tsuna whenever he could. Chrome joined in too every now and then, which, admittedly, took him a while to figure out since Chrome doesn't really seem like the type to pull pranks.

Days, then weeks, then months passed and bit by bit, Tsuna began to really get to know everyone. He learned that Chrome has a quietly sadistic sense of humor, scarily enough, that Chikusa likes to read a lot but has a bit of trouble with it for obvious reasons, that Ken is actually a bit of a sports nut and that Mukuro is actually pretty easy to fluster, if you knew which buttons to push.

… and this is how you know that Tsuna has spent _far_ too much time with Reborn.

Mukuro sighed heavily, breaking Tsuna out of yet another reverie. "Just what am I to do with you both…? This is a serious matter, Tsunayoshi."

"I know," Tsuna responded, mustering up what seriousness he could after such a mirthful moment. "But I've thought this out, really."

"Really now," the Mist said skeptically. "Enlighten us, then."

Tsuna nodded. "Right. So firstly, it's a good opportunity to make connections, for the Vongola. If I'm going to be doing this whole 'Neo Primo' thing, then I may as well put a few spins on our alliances. Magical vigilantes sound like a great way to screw with the 'bloody mafia' image, don't you think?"

"Impossible," Mukuro dismissed. "Wizards are far too bigoted to ever make alliances with non-magicals, especially after the spectacle that resulted from their last attempt."

But he hadn't denied that the concept itself was a good one - Mukuro loved anything that involved screwing with the mafia. Score one for Tsuna!

"Their last attempt?" Chrome questioned, tilting her head slightly in her curiosity. Mukuro shook his head at her question. "A story for another time."

"Right," Tsuna said, accepting this for now. He was very patient with learning things - especially since he wasn't a very quick learner by any means. Catching up to his magical peers was sure to be hell, especially if Reborn had anything to do with it. "I also want to try learning with people my age, which is something that I wouldn't be able to do here."

Tsuna had to admit, he _liked_ the idea of being able to have a fresh start in a new school, free of the stigma of _Dame Tsuna_ and his failures. He wanted to be a peer, not an inferior.

"That's understandable, Boss. But, I still don't think that it's a very good idea for you to go off on your own."

"Most people don't," Tsuna agreed, " - but I need the exercise in independence."

"How shocking," Mukuro drawled, " - coming from the one that essentially lives on teamwork these days."

"I know, I know," Tsuna sighed. "But as much as I like being able to rely on others, a lot, I get used to things too easily and I want to be able to fend for myself without having to worry about whether or not I _can_."

Tsuna paused thoughtfully. "That, and I need a vacation from all the crazy. You people are turning my hair _grey_ already and I'm only _fourteen._ "

Tsuna paused again. "That isn't an invitation to turn my hair grey for a day."

"We would never," Mukuro drawled, as if he's totally above petty pranks for his own amusement. Sure. Tsuna hasn't forgotten about what happened that one week when the illusionist caught a terrible cold and was stuck in bed - long ranged illusions are the worst things, _ever_. Chrome looked away innocently - that girl is _far_ more devious than she let on.

Tsuna took a small mirror that he carried for these exact purposes out of his bag and inspected his image. Once he was satisfied with the brown-ness of his hair, he put the mirror back.

"So little faith," Mukuro tutted. "I'm offended, really -" " _Sure_." "- but we're getting off topic. The fact of the matter is that this is a terrible idea, regardless of your reasoning. I cannot -"

"Wait," Chrome interrupted, eyes wide with an epiphany. "What if we come with you?"

"Um, Chrome, I don't think that you _can_ come with me…" Though, that would be nice. Really nice. Even if it would brutally maim his sanity.

"We don't have to come with you to _come_ with you, Bossu," Chrome explained as if this made perfect sense.

Tsuna was a little lost. Maybe more than a little.

Mukuro looked contemplative. "Wizards _are_ inordinately obsessed with owls…"

Owls? Mukuro and Chrome share an owl Box Animal. An apparently _possessable_ owl.

" _Oh_."

That… that was actually a good idea. It wasn't as if they could interfere too much as an owl (but then again, he _really_ shouldn't underestimate these two), so he'd still get his exercise in independence, but he'd also have _some_ moral support.

Tsuna idly wonders as to how his life managed to get messed up enough for him to actually appreciate the idea of _moral support from Rokudo Mukuro_.

"Actually… I really like that idea. If you guys wouldn't mind, that is?"

Honestly though, Tsuna wonders why he even had to ask.

* * *

Chrome's idea had been very helpful in assuaging the nerves of the other Guardians, even if Gokudera had initially protested a bit. Tsuna knew that it was just because he would rather be the one going with him himself, so he didn't pay too much mind to it.

Tsuna still needed to inform Dino and Enma, as well as the Varia (it's never a good idea to keep secrets from Family and Tsuna has been making an active effort to make sure that everyone wasn't nearly as separated as they had been in the future that he and the others had spent so long trying to protect), but overall, he thinks that he has everyone covered.

Kyoko and Haru were a bit of a gray area - on one hand, they were intimately involved in this whole mafia business, whether he liked it or not. But on the other hand… they were both still innocent. They hadn't seen death first hand, or fought, or anything like that. That's why he tried so hard to keep them out of whatever he could - no one deserved to lose their belief that the world is inherently a good place so early in life.

Not like he has, or like Gokudera, Yamamoto or Ryohei or… well… _everyone_ has. Hell, even the kids - Lambo, I-Pin and Fuuta really _aren't_ as child-like as they seem.

If you listen to I-Pin speaking in her own language, Chinese, one of the many languages that Reborn has been teaching Tsuna (a good boss needs to be able to communicate with all of his allies, after all) over the years, then you'd notice that her speech patterns weren't childlike at all - if he didn't know any better then he would think he was talking to an adult, not a five year old.

Tsuna doesn't really like speaking Chinese, but he does because it makes I-Pin happy. She deserves to be happy. But it makes him intimately aware of the fact that she had initially been, still is, an assassin-in-training.

 _She's only five, goddammit_.

And then there's Lambo, who has an unnatural resistance to electricity. Kami, just what kind of _things_ did the people that were supposed to be his _family_ do to him to make that happen? Worse yet, they knowingly sent him after _Reborn_ , _the world's greatest hitman_ , and told him that he could only come home after he _killed Reborn._

Lambo Bovino had been sent to die.

He knew it too. Tsuna's seen it, seen it in the little boy's eyes when someone asks about his parents, that terrible, sad, pitiful look in his eyes.

After all, Lambo may act like a brat, but that didn't change the fact that by the age of four, he was fluent in Italian, Japanese, English and French without any kind of a lisp or inconsistency in any of those languages. He could handle bombs with an alarming accuracy when he wanted to. When Tsuna tried speaking to him about Flames once, just to see how much the child understood, he was floored when Lambo's understanding of Flames had been revealed to be _far_ more advanced than his own.

So no, Lambo is certainly not too young to understand what was going on and he was _not_ innocent.

That made Tsuna hate his dad a little more ( _a lot more_ ), for forcing Lambo to participate in the Ring Battles, long ago. And himself, for not keeping Lambo safer during the whole ten-years-later fiasco. A proxy could have easily been appointed for Lambo, his bonded Lightning, during the battles. But no one did and worse yet, no one told Tsuna that _he_ could.

He would have, he swears. Hell, he would have even appointed himself - his secondary Flame _is_ Lightning, he technically could have done it. But no, he didn't know. He didn't even think that it was possible!

 _Dame-Tsuna, indeed._

Then, there was Fuuta. Oh, _Fuuta_. Fuuta, who had seen far too much in his relatively short life, who had known nothing but being used and used until he had finally come upon Tsuna. Fuuta, who was still surprised every time someone did something _for_ him without asking for anything in return. Fuuta, who, when he thought no one else was looking, looked at everyone else as though he was in a dream, as though he was terrified that if he closed his eyes, they would all disappear when he opened them.

Kami, Tsuna wished that he could say that the children of the household were as innocent as they were supposed to be. But they weren't and that fact haunts his every waking moment.

 _Why_ was he leaving them again?

Anyways, back to Kyoko and Haru. They were unique in that unlike everyone else, they weren't haunted by things that they never should have seen. Tsuna isn't stupid enough to think that they're entirely blissfully ignorant, but he doesn't want to tell them any more than he has to. They don't need to share his pain.

They just need to be happy.

If he told them about the magic stuff, then it is inevitable that they would ask about whether or not it was connected to the other things that have been going on in Namimori. Then, he would either have to lie and say yes, say no and tell the truth, or openly admit that he wants to withhold the information, which is just asking for a confrontation.

Tsuna really, _really_ doesn't want to let it get that far. He wanted to protect them, but he also didn't want to irreparably damage his relationship with either girl - he cared for them too much for that.

Kami, he's so _selfish_.

He supposes he can deal with this particular moral dilemma later, though. After all, the situation at hand really did require his full attention.

 _Reborn_.

Ever since the Arcobaleno curse had been broken several months back, the former Arcobaleno had been growing back to their former ages at an alarming rate, albeit quite painfully.

Verde theorized that it was because their younger bodies couldn't handle the strain of above-average adult Flame stores without the curse sustaining them, so to accommodate for this drastic change, they began to grow at an exponential rate back to their original states.

Of course, the process wasn't nearly as simple as that, but Tsuna's fairly certain that it would be better for everyone else's sanity if he just left it at that. Except for Gokudera and Onii-chan, that is, but they were actually into this kind of thing so they didn't count.

Regardless, the now twenty-something-looking hitman had just returned from an easy hit he had taken in a foreign country in order to help himself get used to his new size again. He, Tsuna and Mama were sitting around the table as Mama broke the news to him.

There were two cups of espresso on the table. One was dark, with a rich, bitter aroma that somehow managed to seem enticing to Tsuna, in spite of the fact that he knew that he coulnd't handle such a strong taste yet. Tsuna's own cup sat next to it, a lighter roast with an almost-fruity tang, blissfully warming Tsuna's throat with every sip.

"I take it you remember what we had initially discussed when you first began tutoring Tsuna, Reborn-kun?" Mama questioned, sitting up straight with serious eyes that contrasted with her warm tone.

"Of course," Reborn responded smoothly. It was jarring, the difference between the man's true baritone and the high-pitched voice he had previously possessed. "You spoke of a magical society that there was nearly insignificant chance of Tsuna joining through your bloodline. I take it that something's happened in regards to that?"

"Wait, you told him?!" Tsuna questioned incredulously. A near stranger at the time?!

"Mhm," Mama confirmed. "As the person responsible for your primary education, it was important that Reborn-kun was aware of the possibility in case anything happened."

"Don't be so surprised, Dame-Tsuna," Reborn said with a flick to Tsuna's forehead. "I find out everything."

Well, he wasn't wrong.

"Still, I -"

Reborn easily cut off any more of Tsuna's protests. "Update me on the situation, please." The 'please' was obviously only tacked on for the sake of politeness, Tsuna noted. Domineering as usual…

Mama giggled at the demand. "That's what I was going to do, anyways. No need to get so impatient, Reborn-kun. It seems that when the seal on Tsuna's… other gifts… was broken, whatever was interfering with his magical abilities also disappeared. Meaning, Tsuna now has access to the powers that he should have had years ago, but he is also a good eight years behind his peers here in Japan."

Her hesitance when referring to those 'other gifts' of Tsuna's wasn't lost on him, but it really wasn't the time for that particular conversation.

Would it ever be?

"But not in other countries?" Reborn clarified, raising an eyebrow. Tsuna was kind of disturbed by how easily everyone was taking the news at this point.

Mama shook her head. "He'd only be three years behind in any European school, which is why I've taken some time to look into those. I've narrowed it down to a few really reputable ones for the three of us to decide between."

Tsuna looked between the two adults, an epiphany striking through his thoughts. Mama said 'the three of us', as if they were a regular three-person family discussing their child's future. As if Reborn wasn't just his tutor. As if he were… Tsuna's _father_.

 _Oh_.

Somehow, that felt right. Tsuna tried to imagine Sawada Iemitsu sitting in Reborn's chair at the head of the table, Sawada Iemitsu looking over various papers filled with information about the schools he could choose from, Sawada Iemitsu separating the papers into piles based on what was best for Tsuna.

Tsuna nearly shuddered. That image felt wrong, so wrong. That man may be his father by blood, but he was not his father by choice. Sawada Iemitsu chose the Vongola, then came home to freeload and get drunk whenever he wanted.

Reborn, on the other hand, was a completely different story.

Sure, in the beginning, the man had only been doing a job. And yes, Tsuna had hated him for it. But then, Tsuna learned that there was a method to the madness.

" _Knowing and understanding are two completely different things, Tsuna. You can know as many facts as you like, memorize all the equations in the world, but it's all worthless in the real world if you don't understand it. If you truly understand something, then it is ingrained into your mind. Regardless of the stress you're under, whether it's a simple test or a life or death situation, understanding is what will ensure that you perform._ "

So he taught Tsuna under gunpoint, used danger to find out all of Tsuna's weaknesses and systematically eliminate them. He explained something, thoroughly, then made Tsuna practice the concept under the threat of death. If Tsuna didn't perform, then he would explain again, then make Tsuna practice again. This repeated until Tsuna's understanding was nothing less than perfect, no matter how many relipitions it took.

At first, Tsuna thought that it was utter madness, completely unnecessary. But then, he noticed his grades improving. Tests were no longer stresssful - the panicking tightness in his chest as the clock went _tick-tock_ diminished, slowly, but surely. It was easier to face the many threats that he had come under as Vongola's heir.

In other words, he was prepared.

For the first time in his life, a teacher had found a way to actually _teach_ Tsuna things, instead of just calling him dumb and giving up.

Someone actually put _effort_ into helping him learn. Someone had enough faith in him to try, even after finding out how abysmal and pathetic Tsuna was.

Kami, Tsuna loved the way that Reborn taught him.

Sure, he complained. A lot. But that was really just on the principal of the matter, the insanity of it. His words had no bite and both he and Reborn knew it.

When Tsuna did something to earn Reborn's approval - a good grade, a mastered move, achieving fluency in a language - Reborn never actually said it out loud. But Tsuna could see it in his eyes, in the way that the man's lips tilted up just a bit.

It was a wonderful feeling, someone's approval. Even better when it was one of the only two parental figures that Tsuna has ever had in his life.

After all, Reborn was the one to guide Tsuna when he needed guidance, to give him a push in the right direction or to make him try new things. Sure, Tsuna will never like Reborn's initial motives, but that didn't change the fact of the matter.

Sawada Iemitsu may have been his father by blood, but Reborn was Tsuna's father by choice. And that? That mattered.

"Tsuna," Reborn cut into his thoughts like a jagged knife, "- if you don't start paying attention, then we'll pick a school without any of your input at all and you'll just have to live with our choice, whether you like it or not. Is that what you want?"

Tsuna shook his head fondly. That wasn't much of a threat, as Tsuna knew that they'd never actually pick a school that he wouldn't benefit from, but he'd still obviously like to have the choice. "Ah, no, sorry about that. What are the options again?"

Reborn snorted, elegantly, somehow and whilst Mama merely gave him an amused smile. "Is something the matter, Tsu-kun?"

Well, it's not like dishonesty was an actual option here, in this room, with Mama and Reborn. They _always_ knew if he was lying. It was terrible. "I, um… I was just thinking about what it would be like if dad was here." _Instead of Reborn_ went unsaid.

The atmosphere in the room darkened. Mama's smile became strained. "Ah, yes, him. Right, I almost forgot. I've decided to divorce Iemitsu, so you have no need to call him that anymore."

Tsuna's jaw dropped. _Divorce?_ He looked to Reborn, who appeared completely unsurprised.

"That took you longer than I expected," Reborn commented conversationally. "There were plenty of ways for him to ensure that you remained an equal partner in your relationship, yet he chose not to employ any of them and keep you in the dark. A coward that cannot face his home responsibilities is hardly fit to be a husband, much less the Vongola's external advisor."

" _Reborn!_ " Tsuna hissed. Mama wasn't directly involved with the Vongola and he _really_ wasn't sure if they were allowed to tell her about the mafia without any consequences like this, what with _omertà_ and all.

Mama merely nodded in a stiff, cheerful manner. "I agree completely. And don't worry Tsuna, I've known about this for a long time now. But it _is_ very nice to see you trying to protect me."

"Oh." Tsuna didn't really know what to say to that.

"Close your mouth, Dame-Tsuna. We have work to be doing."

"Reborn-kun's absolutely right!" Mama agreed. "Let's get back to the important stuff, okay?"

Tsuna nodded numbly. This was… okay, then.

"What languages do you speak, again, Tsu-kun? I know you know more than just Japanese~"

Tsuna isn't really surprised by this at this point. He's pretty sure that nothing can surprise him anymore. "Italian, English, French and Chinese."

Tsuna is the first to admit that that sounds like a lot for someone as _dame_ as him. But really, Tsuna just _loves_ learning new languages.

It started with Italian, of course. Reborn had insisted that he learn it for mafia purposes and at first, Tsuna had been predictably terrible at it.

But then he watched the way that Gokudera had lit up when Tsuna had tried to practice with him, how happy he was that Tsuna was learning his home language and creating another connection between them.

Kami, Tsuna doesn't ever think that he'll forget Gokudera's face on that day, two years ago. He doesn't want to.

And so, Tsuna threw himself into his studies of Italian. As it turns out, Tsuna's actually a pretty fast learner if he enjoys the material, if he has motivation, especially under Reborn's efficient tutelage.

Then, he found out that Takeshi knew a good amount of English from working with tourists at his father's restaurant, and because of baseball. Suddenly, Tsuna had someone who wanted to learn English with him, a practice partner.

Tsuna started to love English too.

Chinese was an obvious choice, because _someone_ needed to be able to communicate properly with I-Pin. It's a recent mastery of his, not one that he particularly enjoys, but I-Pin needed him to learn it and so he did.

French was Reborn's choice, for communicating with a good amount of Vongola's allies. Tsuna hadn't been too enthused with that one at first, but then he found out that Kyoko and Haru quite liked listening to him practice and having him translate the names of their favorite pastries.

It was a losing battle, really, him and French.

"We can eliminate the Slavic schools immediately," Reborn decided, setting aside a few pamphlets. "I've only just started him on Russian and he won't be fluent by the time classes begin."

Tsuna frowned. "Classes start in September, right? That's what… three months from now? That should be enough time, I think?"

"Not if we have to teach you three years worth of magic in that same time frame," Reborn drawled. "I'm putting the rest of your studies on hold until you're proficient in _all_ of your required subjects for school."

"We?" Tsuna questioned, unsure of how Reborn could help him learn magic if the man couldn't _do_ magic.

"Of course," Mama confirmed. "I admit that I'm not the best with non-magical education, which is why I haven't participated very much in yours. I didn't know what to do," she admitted guiltily. "Reborn-kun, on the other hand, is the only teacher you've ever really responded to and knows exactly how you learn. Of course this is going to be a joint effort for us."

"Provide me with the necessary texts, practical demonstrations and explanations and I can handle the rest, Nana," Reborn interjected. "Tsuna only needs your support and nothing more."

That, and Tsuna generally tended to learn best under highly stressful conditions and he wasn't sure about how Mama would react to that.

"Nonsense, it's about time that I put more into helping my Tsu-kun," Mama dismissed, picking up a few papers. "Anyways, by that specification, we can narrow ourselves down to Scotland's Hogwarts, Beuxbatons in France, as well as Italy's Sardinia Academy."

Tsuna nodded, picking up the paper for "Hogwarts". What a ridiculous name… "According to this, Hogwarts is considered to be the top wizarding school in the European wizarding countries." Oh, wow, the headmaster had a _lot_ of titles…

"It is," Mama affirmed. "But it's also known for being quite dangerous these days, what with England's current political climate and a few incidents that have occurred over the past few years in the school… I heard there had even been a basilisk in the school!"

… basilisk, basilisk, where had he heard that before…?

Oh, right, Gokudera mentioned them once before. Giant snakes that could turn people to stone.

Tsuna barely managed to resist the urge to _hieee_ and rip up the paper.

"Good," Reborn said, approval coloring his tone in a way that made Tsuna want to go hide in his bed forever. "A bit of danger is exactly what he needs. I can't have him going complacent without me around."

"Very true," she agreed. "My Tsu-kun needs to always be ready for anything, if he's going to be the greatest vigilante boss in the world."

Yeah, hiding in bed forever was looking better and better by the second…

"Now, about these other schools…"

* * *

The next month flew by pretty quickly, horribly enough. Tsuna wanted it to last, not slip through his fingers like grains of sweet, brown sugar.

As promised, Reborn took over as much of his magical education as he could, having Mama give him practical demonstrations of the spells and transfigurations while he asked her a long string of questions for each one. Then, he would make diagrams, outline lesson plans and create study sheets to drill the theory into Tsuna's head. Once Tsuna got the theory down, he would try the spells himself under Reborn's watchful eye, finding that it was fairly easy to get things right within a few tries so long as he had a good grasp on what was supposed to happen.

They had gone shopping for Tsuna's supplies a day after the initial discussion. Tsuna had been amazed by the sight of Magical Tokyo, with brilliant glimmering lights and magic everywhere you could see. Reborn had told him to stop gawking and get to shopping, to which Tsuna couldn't help but laugh. It was nice, having Reborn's familiar presence in this world of magic.

To make the transition into European school smoother, Tsuna had been taught with Latin-based incantations instead of Japanese ones. That had made things a bit harder at first, as the pronunciations were a bit different than the standard Latin that Reborn was familiar with, but Mukuro had stepped up within a day of this and corrected his issues, whilst also giving Reborn a rundown of the basic rules of incantation pronunciations to avoid this happening again.

(Practicing in front of Gokudera and Yamamoto also helped quite a bit, along with the occasional presence of the ever-busy Nami-High's new boxing captain.)

Mama spearheaded Tsuna's herbology and potions lessons. Tsuna had been shocked to see that beneath Mama's warm and cozy exterior lied a teacher as Spartan as the likes of Reborn. It was… terrifying to say the least. Tsuna isn't sure if he's impressed or if he wants to pretend that his lessons with Mama never happened.

Probably both.

Perhaps more surprising yet would be Hibari's involvement in the affair. As it turns out, Hibari was actually a wizard himself. He attended the same academy that Mama taught at, though he was part of a specialized combat division whose classes were always at night, hence why Hibari was always taking naps.

Hibari had taken to making Tsuna meet him on Nami-Chuu's rooftop, casting a disillusionment spell on the entire area of ensure that no one interrupted. Then, he gave Tsuna a basic rundown on how magical combat worked - " _Your ability to avoid fights is_ abysmal, _little animal, and I refuse to allow you to die under herbivorous circumstances_."

It was painful, _very_ painful, but effective.

Within a month Tsuna was already done with two years worth of magical training, which was unsurprising considering all the personal attention he was getting and how easy beginning level magic was so long as it was taught correctly and understood well.

Sure, he hadn't had a chance to learn some things, like how to make all the beginning-level potions or anything, but he did know how to handle ingredients correctly and had a good understanding of brewing techniques. All in all, he was set to be able to finish his third year's work in the next month then spend the remaining time reviewing.

He had also had a chance to inform Enma, Dino and the Varia of his new plans and had been pleasantly surprised - he still couldn't quite get used to all the love people have taken to giving him these days - by all the support he received (and passive aggressive death threats that he got from the Varia that he had taken as meaning _be careful or else_ ). Tsuna still wasn't sure about how much he should tell Kyoko and Haru, but he had informed them that he would be studying abroad. They hadn't been very happy about it, Tsuna wasn't the best liar, but they had accepted his excuses without too much fuss.

 _Kami_ , Tsuna's a terrible human being.

Mama had also written to all three of Tsuna's top choices for schooling, but only Hogwarts had agreed to his request of being able to return home every weekend for "urgent family matters".

Thus, they had arranged a meeting to further discuss the details of Tsuna's schooling with the headmaster, as well as to get a tour of the school before they made any final decisions. Professor Dumbledore had taken to the idea that Reborn, a mundane, would be there for the meeting well enough, and it had only taken two more letters to make suitable arrangements.

And so, Tsuna found himself standing before the gates of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, his intuition buzzing and nerves alight with tension as he considered what could very well be his new home for the next four years.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Oh my gods, I think that might just be the longest thing I've ever written. Eighteen pages. Woah.**

 **To clarify, this is going to be set during the fourth book in the Harry Potter series. Tsuna is fourteen, but will be turning fifteen in the beginning of the school year. Since Tsuna was born pretty late in the year, Nana figured that it would be easier for him to just join up with the fourth years, instead of making him cram even more material.**

 **Remember everyone, reviews are love!**

 **Ciao~!**


	3. Chapter 3

_( Chapter 3)_

To say that Giotto di Vongola's ever famed _Hyper Intuition_ was a supernatural anomaly, an unexplainable wonder, a thing of legend and "magic" would be to do the ability absolutely no justice, Tsuna thinks.

Actually, it would be kind of insulting, to be honest.

 _Very_ insulting.

First, it is important to note that Tsuna _hates_ things that have no explanation attached. It's not that he's particularly inquisitive or anything, but Tsuna lives the life of the fantastical.

Flames, magic, time-travel - _kami_ , he still isn't quite sure that he isn't schizophrenic.

(That _would_ explain the whole having actual friends thing, though…)

While it is true that Tsuna considers himself to be a realist, he hardly ever feels that he has any true grasp on what reality is.

Is this real? Is it there? Is it not?

He wishes he could say he knew, at times.

Explanations made things feel _real_ , not like some kind of a joke that his brain concocted to counter his case of chronic loneliness. If there was an explanation, if it made _sense_ , then surely, it _must_ be real.

Then yes, his life must be real.

As such, he had initially refused to believe that Hyper Intuition was actually a thing - maybe nodding along whenever it was mentioned in order to avoid any _are you serious_ looks, trying to explain away that weird feeling that often served as a forewarning somehow, some way.

Then, eventually, he finally cracked and asked Reborn for an explanation. After all, for all that Reborn never explained anything as it was happening unless he actually had to, the man never failed to have an explanation, a reason, for just about everything.

 _Information is never going to be spoon fed to you, Tsuna,_ Reborn had once said with a chastising shake of his head. _It's either you go out and find out on your own, or you properly utilize your sources and ask._

Tsuna didn't really like asking questions. Before, before he became _someone_ , whenever he asked someone something at school they just looked at him like he was an idiot and ignored him, or talked to him as if he was a five year old - even the teachers.

Especially the teachers.

It took Reborn - with a condescending smirk, of course, damn him - announcing that a lack of information would lead to his early demise, that unless he wanted to have _died of being no-good_ written on his headstone, then he'd damn well learn to ask questions and ask them _well_ for Tsuna to finally get over himself and start verbalizing his inquiries again.

And so, Tsuna had asked about the trait that made everyone so certain that he was meant to succeed Vongola's bloody throne.

The explanation itself was relatively simple. Because of a dominant genetic trait that's involved in the expression of Flames, Tsuna's body is constantly emitting Sky Flames even though most people don't emit any kind of Flames at all, unless it's a conscious thing done by someone with _a lot_ of control.

Flames are naturally connected to a person's nervous system, unless said Flames were lab-generated, of course. Something about them augmenting neural signals or whatever, he didn't understand it _that_ well.

For example, when a Sun user heals a person, they first send their Flames through whatever it is that they're healing and allow only for the Flames to touch, not actually Activate anything. The healer feels exactly what's going on inside the patient, which lets a capable healer create a scarily accurate mental image of what they're trying to heal.

Then, from that mental image they start Activating things - like accelerating blood clotting in one area, forcing the immune system to create a specific antibody to get rid of an infection, etc.

It takes a terrifying amount of control, all of it - making sure that they were Activating the right thing, that they didn't Activate it too much or too little or anything.

Ryohei once told Tsuna that he had poured over three different medical textbooks (and science reference books for all the terms, too) when he had first learned to heal before he had felt even remotely confident enough to heal even something as insignificant as a paper cut.

 _Even the extremely smallest mistake could cause cancer,_ he had explained. _It's extremely scary, but that didn't stop me! It just meant I had to pull a couple of all-nighters._

There's a reason why so few Suns heal, after all. There are _very_ few people that Tsuna respects more than he respects those who do and do it well, like Ryohei and Lussuria. Even Reborn hardly trusted himself to do more than accelerate the healing of a broken bone - his reserves were too large to be reliably controlled on such a microscopic level.

Anyways, Hyper Intuition worked in a similar way. The Flames Tsuna emitted fanned out over a relatively small area that steadily increased as Tsuna's seal was undone. Then, they sent back information to Tsuna. They interacted with people and objects subtly, so no one ever noticed what exactly Tsuna's Flames were doing.

It was very useful.

For example, if someone nearby was lying, then that felt weird. If they were nervous about something, then that also felt weird to Tsuna (albeit a different kind of weird). If something was disturbing the area like, say, an incoming bullet, then Tsuna was aware of it immediately after it entered his area of Intuition and could act accordingly.

And apparently, it also interacted with magic.

Tsuna recalls having felt a strange, though not unpleasant, tingling feeling in Magical Tokyo. The magic of the city, bright, warm and exciting - though not terribly overwhelming, touched his Flames, mingled with them and spread his senses out more and more. It was like his Intuition was on drugs - the new depth of perception had quickly disoriented him and Tsuna had been forced to grasp onto Yamamoto and Gokudera's arms before he fell over in shock.

The _safety_ and _home_ feeling of Harmonization, of their Flames instinctively latching on to his, quickly stabilized the new sensations and Kami, he loves his best friends so much.

They had continued onwards, exploring Magical Tokyo together with Mama and Reborn as Tsuna kept holding on to them with a tight grip, even when he had finally gotten used to the magically enhanced form of his Intuition. Tsuna recalls getting lost in their familiar voices, their happiness and laughter, joining in and getting to truly immerse himself in the magic - so long as some of the people that he loved most were by his side.

Now, Hogwarts is a different story entirely.

The moment that Tsuna stepped onto Hogwarts' grounds, he could feel the castle's innate magic latching on to his Flames, searingly bright and powerful but not malicious - like an ear-ringing hello from a proud parent welcoming their child home.

It was overwhelming.

Tsuna felt his senses expanding again, started to gain a general understanding of the feel of the magic of the castle and its occupants. However, this time there were no stabilizing bonds to keep him steady, Mukuro and Chrome having decided to opt out of this initial meeting with Albus Dumbledore - the man made Mukuro _very_ uncomfortable for some reason, a feeling that Chrome shared, much to Tsuna's confusion and curiosity. If Tsuna had asked for them to accompany him then they would have, Chrome had assured him, but he didn't really want to ask any more of them than he already did.

Besides, he had Mama and Reborn. It would be fine, he had thought.

Unfortunately, Tsuna failed to account for the fact that he's a really pathetic Sky that can hardly survive a single day without at least one Guardian, since his life is just terrible like that.

Internally, Tsuna began to panic, vaguely registering Reborn's voice and Mama's warm, warm hand. He couldn't handle the sheer density of the magic - there was so much of it in such a relatively small area and he could _feel_ all of it and -

 _Oh._

The magic withdrew within seconds, sort of, the intensity of its presence dwindling in an instant and somehow, it almost felt… apologetic?

The castle is sentient. Why is this surprising again?

Tsuna took a deep breath, repeating _it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, don't worry about it_ in his head until he was sure that his Flames practically radiated the thought, receiving kind acceptance in response.

"Tsuna? Tsu-kun? What's wrong?"

Mama was worried. Tsuna winced, that was the last thing he wanted.

"Ah… nothing. Bloodline abilities," Tsuna deflected. Reborn wasn't fooled. "Tsuna."

Tsuna internally cringed at the unspoken promise of even harsher training if he wasn't honest. "No, seriously," Tsuna insisted. "This place has a _lot_ of magic and it was making my Intuition go crazy for a second there. It's fine now, though!"

Really, it was. The magic was wrapped around him now, warm and comforting and not at all overwhelming. Mama placed a hand on his shoulder and he could feel her nervous grip tighten. "Ah… I'm afraid that I still don't understand how this power of yours works, Tsu-kun, but if you say that it isn't hurting you…"

Reborn frowned, contemplative. "The Vongola's Hyper Intuition can't, and shouldn't, ever be turned off. But the way that it interacts with magic is becoming a serious issue…"

Well, he isn't wrong. Tsuna imagines that going somewhere like the wizarding hospital, or the Ministry of Magic, might give him a panic attack at this point without any of his Guardians, or the understanding of sentient magic like Hogwarts'. "Maybe it'll stop doing that once I get used to magic being around me?"

"Perhaps," Reborn says non-committedly. "But it would be foolish to just go with that assumption. I'll look into it."

Tsuna doesn't doubt that he'll have a solution within a few days. Or at least, a strategy? The interaction between Flames and magic is a relatively unexplored territory, what with the natural separation between the two societies, but he has faith in Reborn's sheer tenacity in making sure that there isn't anything in the world that he doesn't know.

They'll figure it out, one way or the other.

* * *

They are greeted at the gates to Hogwarts by an extremely large man - he could probably dwarf even the likes of Lancia or Xanxus which was an… odd thought, to say the least.

Dwarfing people that had once seemed larger than life, that is. Not that they still were, Tsuna likes to think that he knows better now, but it really does put things into perspective.

"'ello there!" the giant of a man greeted, his voice as large as his size. "Ik-oo-say T'unayoshi and his guardians."

Tsuna winced at the butchering of his name, but it was to be expected. Japanese and English pronunciations were very different, after all. It probably grated his ears a bit more than it normally would have because he wasn't quite used that address yet either, though.

After Mama had finalized the divorce, with much protest from his father (that had been fun - _not_ ), Tsuna had been given the choice of keeping the name 'Sawada', or switching to Mama's maiden name, 'Ikusei'. _Nurture_.

It fits, Tsuna had decided. So now he was 'Ikusei Tsunayoshi' and yeah, it was taking a while to get used to it, to not reflexively introduce himself as 'Sawada'.

Hagrid, the groundskeeper, had a very thick accent. It was hard to understand, but Tsuna had been taught with Reborn's crisp, London-English, so he imagines that he's having much less of an issue comprehending it than say, Yamamoto would with his American-styled English.

Tsuna tried to listen and glean information from the man as they walked towards the large castle. Classes are in session right now, Hogwarts is a premier institution, and something terrible is going on if the false cheer and heavy set of Hagrid's shoulders were any indication.

The man was clearly trying his best to make Hogwarts sound as good as it probably was, but he wasn't a very good actor. He loves this place, but something's off.

Tsuna and Reborn exchange a look as Mama continues to listen attentively - she can be a bit careless when it comes to these things, sometimes - and return their attention to Hagrid. _Proceed with caution_ , they agree.

It was a gloomy day and no matter how warm Hogwarts' magic was, Tsuna couldn't help but feel some kind of an unnatural chill. He didn't know what it was, but it set him on edge.

Tsuna thinks that he saw the fluttering of a gray cloak in the distance - _why does that bother him so much?_ \- but couldn't investigate. Hagrid sped up, practically pushing them into the castle - "it isn' good to be outside too long today," the man insisted.

Yes, _very_ reassuring.

Too bad Tsuna didn't exactly have many other options…

Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Tsuna can feel, is a lot like Nono. The tired twinkle in his eye, the disarmingly frail appearance that doesn't quite seem to match up to a man of his supposed ability.

A man that has been in power too long, he bets. But he probably isn't too bad - by Tsuna's standards, that is. He's the headmaster of a magic school, not the leader of some criminal citadel, after all.

But then again, being in charge of the most popular source of education for an entire country is a lot of power, a lot of influence over the future of a society. Tsuna imagines that if someone like that wanted to indoctrinate something into the very fabric of Wizarding Britain's culture, he could. Easily.

But again, the man doesn't feel terribly dangerous. So Tsuna will reserve judgement, for now.

"Good day, Professor Dumbledore," Mama greeted warmly with a small bow.

"And to you as well, Professor and young Mister Ikusei," Professor Dumbledore began warmly. "Forgive me, but I don't recall your companion's name being mentioned in your letters?"

It wouldn't have been - Reborn was something of a household name when it came to assassination and they hadn't been sure of what the extent of British wizarding intelligence-gathering capabilities actually was.

Surely a government that has been so successful at keeping something as big as _magic_ a secret for so long couldn't be as incompetent as they seemed to be?

Well, according to Mukuro they absolutely were, but he's a bit of a cynic so Tsuna's going to take everything that comes out of his mouth with a grain of salt.

So they decided to just name-drop and see what happens - a simple strategy to test someone's information reserves.

There are a lot of ways that this could go, Tsuna's magical education, that is. Britain's current political climate made it impossible for the school to not be segregated into cliques based on "blood-status" - based on how dangerous a family was, their money, government positions. Tsuna, while his mother is a pure-blood, is undeniably a half-blood.

So there are two specific routes that Tsuna can take. He could stay quiet, keep his head down, get in and out of Hogwarts without any trouble - after all, who would try and bother a foreign half-blood? Why bother? There wouldn't be any benefit to it, especially in as Eurocentric of an environment as Hogwarts.

Or… he _could_ actually go along with that crazy half-assed idea that he had originally proposed to Mukuro (and gotten approved by Reborn - _why_ did he do that?) and try and create a wizard-vigilante alliance.

In _that_ case, it would make more sense to integrate himself with pureblood families, like what Primo had originally done when he was first creating the Vongola. Tsuna didn't want to draw innocent, normal people into any of his mess, but he _highly_ doubted that any of those families were entirely clean, if the information they had gathered thus far was any indication.

And… well… he could definitely see the benefits of the approach.

Magical technology really was incredible in a lot of ways, and he imagines that incorporating it into the gear that he and his Guardians, the whole Family, used would probably make all of the dangerous situations that they tended to get into on a regular basis much _less_ dangerous.

Having significant connections in the magical world, ones that wouldn't rely on his mother in any way, shape or form and drag her into his mess? That would be the best way to get said technology in bulk amounts and developers.

And, well, if there _is_ a way to make sure that the people he loves come home with less injuries, to help make sure that they even come home at all?

Well. Never let it be said that Tsuna had anything against getting his hands a little dirty for _his_ greater good.

"You wouldn't have," Reborn said with almost-dismissive confidence. Asserting dominance - a very typical Reborn thing to do. "I am Reborn. Ciao."

Not giving them Reborn's name initially, then dropping it later, was an easy way to see exactly how much Professor Dumbledore actually knew about the muggle underworld, and exactly how wary the man would be of Tsuna.

The pronouncement did little more than draw amusement from the elderly wizard. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Reborn. That is quite the interesting name."

 _Was I supposed to have heard of it before?_

Tsuna choked back laughter - the man basically dismissed Reborn just as the hitman did him. The look said it all - _you may think that you are dangerous, but you are naught but a child._

A younger Tsuna would have found the whole situation terrifying, all the politics, the magic, _Reborn_ \- but honestly, after the whole Byakuran-incident, Tsuna really does find it hard to find most "terrifying" things as anything other than slightly anxiety-inducing.

"It is, isn't it," Reborn replies mildly. _You don't know who I am, but you will soon enough._

"Um," Tsuna interrupts with all the elegance and social grace that has been beaten into his sorry ass for the past two years. "This is a very nice school, Professor. The magic feels very warm."

Tsuna can practically feel Reborn's irritation at Tsuna's meekness. It isn't exactly very "rich, powerful heir" of him, but Tsuna really isn't that good at any of this stuff yet.

Sure, he can fight. And yes, he _does_ have a pretty solid grasp on politics and etiquette.

He just has some trouble putting the last bit into practice. This is pretty much his first "sink or swim" situation in that particular area.

"Magic sensors are very rare, my dear boy," Professor Dumbledore said, gently, and Tsuna got the feeling that the statement was meant to lower his guard, then turned to Mama. "But most don't develop their abilities very quickly at all. You said that your son has only been aware of magic for the past two months, correct?"

Mama nodded. "Ah, yes, it's, ah… something that runs in the family."

Tsuna had a feeling that Reborn was about a hair length away from banging his head against the wall at this point.

"I see… I find it hard to believe that such an ability wouldn't have manifested earlier in his life, as abilities like this one tend to act separately from one's magic," the man explained thoughtfully, pausing. "I don't mean to insult you, but would this not have been an indication that your son is not in fact a squib before this point in time?"

Okay, yeah, Tsuna can see that logic. Magic abilities only show up in kids with functional magical cores. He basically just let Professor Dumbledore know that he has a well-developed, easily noticed magical ability because he couldn't think of anything better to say, which blows quite the hole in their story.

Reborn cut in smoothly. "Tsunayoshi's ability has been manifesting in ways unrelated to magic as a result of his condition, thus it went unnoticed. I am sure you're aware of your kind's inability to take notice of anything outside of your little bubble?"

Tsuna's eyes widened at the blatant insult. Why. Why does Reborn _have_ to do this?!

"We can be a bit narrow-minded, yes," Dumbledore agreed easily enough. "However, I also have my doubts that this 'condition' could have so severely altered the nature of a sensor."

Wait, Tsuna thought that their story was just that magic is weird, not that there was something specifically wrong with _Tsuna_ and shit, Tsuna never actually asked to see Mama's letter to Professor Dumbledore, he doesn't know all the details of the cover, shit, shit, shit he should have _asked -_

"Untrained magic is unpredictable," Reborndemurred. "Your kind says it often enough in the multitude of texts on developing magical cores. Trauma is a terrible thing, wouldn't you agree?"

"Of course. That being said, trauma is known to cause a magical core to go into overdrive, not seal itself away for years at a time," Dumbledore pointed out. "If I am to provide Tsunayoshi with the best possible education, then it is important that I be completely aware of the circumstances surrounding his unique situation, Mister Reborn. I'm sure you can agree with that?"

"Perhaps," Reborn allowed. "However, we have already provided you with all of the information you need. Tsunayoshi is a fast learner that is already on par with, if not better than, your soon-to-be fourth year students. He does not require any special treatment beyond that which we have already requested."

"A student with only two and a half months of magical training, whom needs to return to Japan every weekend without failure," the old man began, more seriously than he had been speaking before, "- is an unprecedented case. His scant education has only been provided by two people, one of which is non-magical. Objectively speaking, I cannot in good conscious allow for him to simply join the fourth year class with the information I have now."

"With all due respect, Professor," Mama cut in, "- my son's education has been optimized for him to learn as much as he can within a short amount of time. I've been an educator for over a decade now and I can assure you, that he has done wonderfully. He will have no trouble integrating with the rest of the class."

Tsuna felt a swell of warmth in his chest at Mama's praise. Dumbledore's right - it is hard to believe that someone like him could just… fit right in in a situation like this. But he has Mama and Reborn and Hibari, will have Mukuro and Chrome with him.

He can do this.

Tsuna found himself nodding along. "And to address your other concern, Professor… I won't be returning every weekend because of my situation with magic," he said firmly, pouring his resolve into his words.

"Then why will you?" Dumbledore asked and Tsuna could see something akin to approval in those wise, old eyes.

"I have a responsibility to my family in Japan," Tsuna declared, meeting the man's gaze head-on. "There are children that depend on me and people that need me. To abandon them now, even for the sake of my education, would be selfish."

Tsuna paused, taking a deep breath. "I would rather remain home without any magical education at all than abandon my responsibilities. If I can't Portkey back weekly, then we should save ourselves the trouble of having this conversation and end this now."

Dumbledore paused for a moment, mulling over Tsuna's declaration. Tsuna nearly shrunk back, surprised at his own forward-ness, but a glance at Reborn showed that the man looked… proud, proud of what Tsuna just said, did.

Tsuna couldn't back down now.

"Very well," Dumbledore said, finally, warmly. "I can make those accommodations. That being said, I still have my reservations about your joining of the fourth year class."

"Then he will prove himself."

Wait, what?

Tsuna looked at Reborn incredulously. "I will?"

Reborn nodded, lips curving into a smirk. "Yes, you will."

Tsuna brings a palm to his face. He should have expected something like this. Really, he should have. Reborn did say to be _prepared for anything_ , but come on… "Right now?"

"Right now." Mama nodded enthusiastically. "Why, of course! I just tested your knowledge a day ago, you should be just fine, Tsu-kun."

Tsuna shuddered at the reminder. Okay, yeah, this is fine, he highly doubts that whatever it was that these people could throw at him had anything on what Mama and Reborn were capable of pulling on a regular basis.

"Fortunately," Dumbledore began jovially, "- we have just the thing for that. An assessment has been prepared for that very reason."

"Oh. That's great."

Well. That's just what he gets for failing his first exam of the day, Tsuna supposes.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Well… this took longer than expected to finish. Funnily enough, this is only about half of what I originally had planned for this chapter, but alas, if I had decided to put everything in then it would've taken another semester to publish, what with all of my classes and fencing going on and all that.**

 **Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long, though - expect another update within the month.**

 **Ciao!**


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